I think you are going to find that it is tough to find small multi family deals near DC.

I am fairly well-versed in construction methods and materials, but short on time and manpower, so-to-speak.  

Finding people can be tough.

It would be a good material to start with.

They provide all invoices for material and labor and you just mark it up by the agreed %.

Its tough, do you self manage  ? 

The buyer gets that amount by default if material misrepresentations by the seller.I am sure they will not like that either.I tell sellers if I can't validate the income stream for paying XXXX price then I have to reduce my offer to cover unknowns you are not willing to verify with the property.If the seller doesn't acknowledge that they are looking for a sucker buyer to pay a premium for their problems and you need to move on.

My perspective is that I could potentially go broke before I even get 2 years experience if I did it that way - and that doesn't help me at all.Then there are the basic costs of doing business and marketing materials.

This isn't Bernie Madoff material. 

So i buy the material needed and they get delivered to the front yard.